Supporting Mental Health of Black Children and Youth

After each stage, we held a panel to present findings and discuss mental health in the Black community. From the results of the study, the Child Mind Institute and The Steve Fund have developed a suite of resources for parents, clinical experts, and young adults alike. More than three-quarters of respondents expressed an overall positive view of mental health care and professionals. At the same time, quantitative research focusing on Black youth mental health is limited. Many Black children and adolescents really do carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, and their developing minds and bodies are not prepared to handle it all.

Youth voices on Black joy:

These initiatives aim to foster supportive relationships, cultural pride, and community engagement, all of which can promote resilience and prevent mental health challenges in Black youth. For instance, The https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/07/21/july-is-national-minority-mental-health-awareness-month/ Steve Fund provides mental health resources specifically designed for young people of color, while National CARES Mentoring Movement provides mentorship programs for at-risk Black youth. To further empower Black youth, it is crucial to raise awareness about mental health challenges they face and promote culturally responsive, evidence-based interventions. Additionally, mental health resources and services should be advertised and made more accessible to the Black community.

Special Projects

Taken together, the 3 standards of practice described here—using a sociocultural framework, exercising flexibility in one’s assigned role, and understanding and incorporating culturally specific strengths and protective factors into care—embedded within a critical conceptualization of ecological systems theory, highlight the ongoing need for systemic mental health treatment reform at all ecological levels and challenge epistemological assumptions that are central to treatment environments as they currently stand. Black youths are more likely to turn to family members when experiencing mental health distress than other youths and more often want to include them in treatment.64 Research has shown that family functioning both directly and indirectly relates to improved mental health among Black American clients; thus, it remains imperative to include families and, if clinically indicated, improve family functioning and communication in the treatment of Black American clients. They found that issues related to race and ethnicity were more important to racial/ethnic minority clients than to White clients; clients who reported these issues as important were less likely to be satisfied with the services they received if these elements were not incorporated into their care.62 Therefore, clinicians in outpatient care settings must be willing to broach conversations around racism and race-based stress as they become relevant in the therapeutic environment.63 In work with Black youths in particular, allowing space to discuss experiences with racism and race-based stress may be critical. By contrast, Black individuals are well represented among social workers, accounting for 22% of new workers entering the profession.50 Given the number of Black social workers, they may play an especially critical role in the outpatient treatment of Black youths.

Parents and families

For example, Metzger et al.55 adapted trauma-focused cognitive–behavioral therapy to integrate racial socialization to address experiences of racial trauma.55 To produce culturally responsive providers, it will be critical for training programs across mental health professions to provide clinical training in delivering these culturally responsive interventions with diverse client populations. Indeed, a recent study reported that Black youths reported an average of 5 discriminatory experiences each day.31 Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a worldwide reckoning with racial injustice, has disrupted the lives of youths. Common clinical presentations for youths dealing with mental health symptoms fall into cognitive (e.g., trouble concentrating, thought distortions), behavioral (e.g., poor academic performance, sleep problems, social withdrawal), and emotional (e.g., irritability, anger, fear) domains.28 It is critical to understand the socioecological factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of such clinical symptomology and the interlocking set of stressors that may contribute to youths ultimately presenting for clinical care. This healthy mistrust of the medical system comes from a long-standing history of exploitation and discriminatory treatment by health care providers.5 Furthermore, widespread public and self-stigma relating to mental health problems pose significant barriers to engaging Black youths and their families in treatment.27 Thus, public health professionals working in outpatient treatment settings must contend with myriad contributions to disparities.

Dr. Okoya shared an example that she has seen work well in schools. If we focus on connectedness and create tiers that focus on the desired outcome, we will naturally create a culture that is strength based. Schools must focus on how to create strong relationships with their students. It is incredibly important for Black students to meet with a therapist that looks like them. Teletherapy also gives students access to a more diverse clinical base. And, because it is virtual, it doesn’t require time away from school or work to get to and from these appointments which can be costly.

• Black adolescents who live in urban, under-resourced environments are also at risk for poor mental health outcomes due to increased exposure to violence and other types of traumatic events (Gaylord et al., 2016; Opara et al., 2020a).
• They also experienced positive emotions such as happiness, excitement, joy, pride, confidence, and even calmness (e.g., having more “woosah” moments) due to their mentors employing strengths-based and culture-centered care.
• The fourth grader who said she wanted to die because her white neighbors told her that her black skin was ugly.

Case in point, Weiler et al. (2013) examined the effects of the Campus Corps program, a university-based service-learning course that involved college students from one university serving as time-limited mentors (no more than 12 weeks of support) for at-risk youth (ages 10–18) in the community. When supporting youths’ social, emotional, and behavioral health, the “older more experienced person” may include a non-parental adult who is not providing direct support as a licensed mental health provider (Cavell et al., 2021; Kaufman et al., 2022). Considering the shortage of licensed mental health professionals, mentorship can grant youth access to mental health-related care, especially when mentors are trained and supported by professional mental health providers to help mitigate social–emotional and behavioral health challenges youth may experience (Cavell et al., 2021). SMH support can occur through community partnership models that are school-linked versus school-based, where services are provided outside of the school setting yet still intended to promote student success (Eagle & Dowd-Eagle, 2014). As an answer to the key barriers identified in the study, the Steve Fund developed a supplement to the report that provides expert-approved recommendations for improving the mental health care of Black children and youth.

Other youth participants exhibited excitement and joy when discussing additional strengths they possessed and how their mentors incorporated them in the sessions. Regarding race/ethnicity, the mentors primarily incorporated books and imagery that centered Black and Brown characters when supporting elementary-aged participants. I’ve heard people say, “Oh just live in the moment,” but I didn’t really know what that meant or anything like that, because I’m in the moment living but my mind was in a different type of space. Furthermore, they did not feel like school personnel took the time to teach them helpful mental and behavioral health strategies like their mentors taught them in the sessions. Accordingly, Jason reported that he learned to seek help more often in school by working through his “fear of judgment.” As such, Hope’s mentor’s log showed that she taught Hope how to make “SMART goals” to remain focused, in addition to helping Hope understand the connection between school persistence and goal attainment.